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My House

My House

a clean house & a full heart

I don’t know if I have ever cleaned this entire house, all at one time, so thoroughly.  I’ve done a “super clean” of each room, but I usually tackle one or two at a time.  This time, I was doing a “super clean” of almost the entire house.  The basement and Jeff’s office were excluded, which is very obvious if you set foot in either one of those spaces. A “super clean”, in my book, includes dusting, vacuuming, ironing, steam cleaning, soaking, washing, scrubbing, sweeping, wiping and polishing everything in the room.  You wouldn’t think it would take long, especially if you’re generally clean and tidy, but it is time consuming and absolutely amazing the amount of dirt and grim that isn’t reached in an average cleaning.  I went through 1/2 a bottle of multi-purpose cleaner, two rolls of paper towels, five loads of non-clothing laundry, eight rags (used until they

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Before and Afters

corner cabinets in shutter gray

While I was finishing up the slipcovers I shared yesterday, Kriste worked on giving a few pieces in my dining room a fresh coat of paint. (She was standing in front of the sink, mixing paint, and the light was so pretty, so I had to snap a picture.) I wanted to give the corner cabinets and buffet in the dining room a little makeover. The first time I ever used a tinted wax was on these corner cabinets and it got away from me a bit.  Well maybe more than a bit.  The end result looked streaky and I’ve wanted to fix them for a while, but again, there was always something more important to do. The interior was painted a cream, but the original reddish stain on the cabinet had bled through, so it had a pink tinge in a few places.  Again, something I wanted to fix, but not enough to

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All Things Home

hemp sheet slipcovers

One project that’s been on my to-do list for a couple of years was making new slipcovers for the wing chairs in the family room.  When things linger on a list that long, it’s because I don’t really want to do them.  I know how to make slipcovers and I love the results, but I make them out of thriftiness, not out of a zest for making slipcovers.  I usually do my slipcovering and upholstery in spurts, but between Lucketts and getting my house ready for this shoot, I’ve been on a sewing/stapling marathon.  I think I’ve done 20 chairs in the last 2 months.  Whew! These wing chairs might be in an important shot, so I really wanted them to look their best.  The drop cloth slipcovers have held up well for about 8 years, but they are examples of my “early work”and they were starting to look a little slouchy

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All Things Home

bolster pillow cover

I said in my last post that I was going to be sewing up a storm and I definitely did.  I finished four accent pillows and two pillow cases and glued the welting on the second bergere chair.  A photo shoot is happening in my house next week and I’m using it as an excuse to get things finished that have been on my to-do list for a long time.  I’m going to start making new slipcovers for the wing chairs in the family room tomorrow.  I slipped those about eight years ago, in drop cloths.  They’ve held up really well, but they are starting to show the wear. So, one of the pillow covers I made today was for the bolster on the living room sofa.  It’s been hanging out naked for the past few months and it was time to get it appropriately dressed!    I’m working at such a

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All Things Home

latest HGTV.com tutorials…

I’ve been cramming a lot of work into just a few weeks and I’ve only shared a part of it here on the blog.  It’s just the way deadlines, events, trips and things in my schedule stacked up, but I have one more big thing to get through and then my schedule opens up a bit.  Of course, I’m already planning to schedule more workshops and there are a few new projects I’d like to get off the ground, but I feel like I can go at my own pace.  How busy I am will be self-imposed! So, today I thought I would share a preview of some of the other things I’ve been working on as I was getting ready for Lucketts.  It was Christmas in the studio as Kriste and I worked on projects for HGTV.com‘s Christmas in July series… And Jeff and I wrote a tutorial on how to make

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All Things Home

reupholstery tutorial | French wing chair | part 1

It’s time for another upholstery series!  If you missed my last one, I showed how to upholster a wood-framed, French-style chair.  You can find it HERE.  If you’re scared of upholstery, you’re going to like the way I upholster and teach.  I’m a DIY, self-taught upholsterer, not a “professional.”  I started upholstering dining chair seat cushions and benches with a manual stapler and then graduated to simple slipcovers, such as they were, and finally dove into upholstering an armchair about five years ago. I took the chair apart and then had a little freakout moment.  What in the world have I done to this beautiful chair?!  I had read upholstery books, but I really wasn’t sure if I would be able to get it back together.  I worked through it step by step, just like putting together a puzzle.  It wasn’t perfect, but it actually looked okay!  That gave me the confidence to

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All Things Home

living room pillows | welting vs. gimp

In case you missed it, Kriste and I are heading to Wisconsin tomorrow!  We’re going to be in Milwaukee and Sun Prairie, on Friday and Saturday respectively, to teach workshops, demos and just hang out with blog readers, milk paint lovers and friends-we’ve-yet-to-meet.  You can find all of the details of our trip HERE. Between the long weekend and our trip, though, we’ve been trying to squeeze in some productivity.  I have a big photo shoot in my house coming up, which is a good excuse to get some finishing touches done.  Those are the things that linger on my to-do list and end up getting bumped when more exiting or pressing projects come around. This week, we’ve been finishing up the upholstered chairs in my living and dining rooms and making pillows.  Most of them are still in process, but we did get the living room pillows, for the bergere

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All Things Home

10 minute decorating | “antique” bread board

I was asked by one of my blog buddies, Laura from Finding Home, to join a “10 minute” challenge each month along with some other awesome bloggers.  I tend to take on projects that are more involved..refinishing, painting, upholstering, etc., so I like the idea of pinning myself down each month to do something simple and quick. The theme for this month is “10 minute craft”. As soon as I saw crafting was the theme, I went blank.  I’m not a crafter!  I know there’s a fine line between a DIYer and a crafter, but when I think about doing a 10 minute craft, my creativity just tanked.  So, I went back over things I’ve made over the past few weeks and I found something that was quick, great project… …”antique” bread boards.  I have been collecting bread boards and cutting boards for years, mostly from yard sales, auctions, antique shops,

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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